124,729 research outputs found
Automatic Verification of Transactions on an Object-Oriented Database
In the context of the object-oriented data model, a compiletime approach is given that provides for a significant reduction of the amount of run-time transaction overhead due to integrity constraint checking. The higher-order logic Isabelle theorem prover is used to automatically prove which constraints might, or might not be violated by a given transaction in a manner analogous to the one used by Sheard and Stemple (1989) for the relational data model. A prototype transaction verification tool has been implemented, which automates the semantic mappings and generates proof goals for Isabelle. Test results are discussed to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach
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Asynchronous data retrieval from an object-oriented database
We present an object-oriented semantic database model which, similar to other object-oriented systems, combines the virtues of four concepts: the functional data model, a property inheritance hierarchy, abstract data types and message-driven computation. The main emphasis is on the last of these four concepts. We describe generic procedures that permit queries to be processed in a purely message-driven manner. A database is represented as a network of nodes and directed arcs, in which each node is a logical processing element, capable of communicating with other nodes by exchanging messages. This eliminates the need for shared memory and for centralized control during query processing. Hence, the model is suitable for implementation on a multiprocessor computer architecture, consisting of large numbers of loosely coupled processing elements
Query processing of geometric objects with free form boundarie sin spatial databases
The increasing demand for the use of database systems as an integrating
factor in CAD/CAM applications has necessitated the development of database
systems with appropriate modelling and retrieval capabilities. One essential
problem is the treatment of geometric data which has led to the development of
spatial databases. Unfortunately, most proposals only deal with simple geometric
objects like multidimensional points and rectangles. On the other hand, there has
been a rapid development in the field of representing geometric objects with free
form curves or surfaces, initiated by engineering applications such as mechanical
engineering, aviation or astronautics. Therefore, we propose a concept for the realization
of spatial retrieval operations on geometric objects with free form
boundaries, such as B-spline or Bezier curves, which can easily be integrated in
a database management system. The key concept is the encapsulation of geometric
operations in a so-called query processor. First, this enables the definition of
an interface allowing the integration into the data model and the definition of the
query language of a database system for complex objects. Second, the approach
allows the use of an arbitrary representation of the geometric objects. After a
short description of the query processor, we propose some representations for free
form objects determined by B-spline or Bezier curves. The goal of efficient query
processing in a database environment is achieved using a combination of decomposition
techniques and spatial access methods. Finally, we present some experimental
results indicating that the performance of decomposition techniques is
clearly superior to traditional query processing strategies for geometric objects
with free form boundaries
Learning Membership Functions in a Function-Based Object Recognition System
Functionality-based recognition systems recognize objects at the category
level by reasoning about how well the objects support the expected function.
Such systems naturally associate a ``measure of goodness'' or ``membership
value'' with a recognized object. This measure of goodness is the result of
combining individual measures, or membership values, from potentially many
primitive evaluations of different properties of the object's shape. A
membership function is used to compute the membership value when evaluating a
primitive of a particular physical property of an object. In previous versions
of a recognition system known as Gruff, the membership function for each of the
primitive evaluations was hand-crafted by the system designer. In this paper,
we provide a learning component for the Gruff system, called Omlet, that
automatically learns membership functions given a set of example objects
labeled with their desired category measure. The learning algorithm is
generally applicable to any problem in which low-level membership values are
combined through an and-or tree structure to give a final overall membership
value.Comment: See http://www.jair.org/ for any accompanying file
Evolving database systems : a persistent view
Submitted to POS7 This work was supported in St Andrews by EPSRC Grant GR/J67611 "Delivering the Benefits of Persistence"Orthogonal persistence ensures that information will exist for as long as it is useful, for which it must have the ability to evolve with the growing needs of the application systems that use it. This may involve evolution of the data, meta-data, programs and applications, as well as the users' perception of what the information models. The need for evolution has been well recognised in the traditional (data processing) database community and the cost of failing to evolve can be gauged by the resources being invested in interfacing with legacy systems. Zdonik has identified new classes of application, such as scientific, financial and hypermedia, that require new approaches to evolution. These applications are characterised by their need to store large amounts of data whose structure must evolve as it is discovered by the applications that use it. This requires that the data be mapped dynamically to an evolving schema. Here, we discuss the problems of evolution in these new classes of application within an orthogonally persistent environment and outline some approaches to these problems.Postprin
Kolmogorov Complexity in perspective. Part II: Classification, Information Processing and Duality
We survey diverse approaches to the notion of information: from Shannon
entropy to Kolmogorov complexity. Two of the main applications of Kolmogorov
complexity are presented: randomness and classification. The survey is divided
in two parts published in a same volume. Part II is dedicated to the relation
between logic and information system, within the scope of Kolmogorov
algorithmic information theory. We present a recent application of Kolmogorov
complexity: classification using compression, an idea with provocative
implementation by authors such as Bennett, Vitanyi and Cilibrasi. This stresses
how Kolmogorov complexity, besides being a foundation to randomness, is also
related to classification. Another approach to classification is also
considered: the so-called "Google classification". It uses another original and
attractive idea which is connected to the classification using compression and
to Kolmogorov complexity from a conceptual point of view. We present and unify
these different approaches to classification in terms of Bottom-Up versus
Top-Down operational modes, of which we point the fundamental principles and
the underlying duality. We look at the way these two dual modes are used in
different approaches to information system, particularly the relational model
for database introduced by Codd in the 70's. This allows to point out diverse
forms of a fundamental duality. These operational modes are also reinterpreted
in the context of the comprehension schema of axiomatic set theory ZF. This
leads us to develop how Kolmogorov's complexity is linked to intensionality,
abstraction, classification and information system.Comment: 43 page
Ontology-based knowledge representation of experiment metadata in biological data mining
According to the PubMed resource from the U.S. National Library of Medicine,
over 750,000 scientific articles have been published in the ~5000 biomedical journals
worldwide in the year 2007 alone. The vast majority of these publications include results from hypothesis-driven experimentation in overlapping biomedical research domains. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of information being generated by the biomedical research enterprise has made it virtually impossible for investigators to stay aware of the latest findings in their domain of interest, let alone to be able to assimilate and mine data from related investigations for purposes of meta-analysis. While computers have the potential for assisting investigators in the extraction, management and analysis of these data, information contained in the traditional journal publication is still largely unstructured, free-text descriptions of study design, experimental application and results interpretation, making it difficult for computers to gain access to the content of what is being conveyed without significant manual intervention. In order to circumvent these roadblocks and make the most of the output from the biomedical research enterprise, a variety of related standards in knowledge representation are being developed, proposed and adopted in the biomedical community. In this chapter, we will explore the current status of efforts to develop minimum information standards for the representation of a biomedical experiment, ontologies composed of shared vocabularies assembled into subsumption hierarchical structures, and extensible relational data models that link the information components together in a machine-readable and human-useable framework for data mining purposes
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